NATURAL HISTORY OF SOUTH AFRICA 



scrub and undergrowth, the Cane Rat forms a soft 

 nest of shredded grasses, plants, etc., on the ground, 

 in the most sheltered place obtainable. Here a 

 litter of from two to four young are born. Breeding 

 takes place during the spring and early summer. 



It is stated that this animal is not a burrower. On 

 the contrary, in localities which do not afford a suffici- 

 ency of cover, the Cane Rat forms shallow burrows, 

 invariably on sparsely-wooded, sloping ground. In 

 these burrows they seek shelter during the day, and 

 when the time for breeding arrives, the female rears 

 her little family in a nest in a chamber at the bottom 

 of the hole. In Natal, in the district of Pietermaritz- 

 burg, I frequently hunted these Cane Rats, and on 

 several occasions my terriers tracked them to burrows 

 which were always on the slope of a hill sparsely 

 covered with bush. The burrow is sufficiently 

 large for a fox-terrier to enter. Sometimes a 

 terrier would drag several from a single burrow. On 

 one occasion an adult female and four others, half- 

 grown, were dragged forth, one by one. These 

 half-grown Cane Rats were evidently the last litter. 

 Sometimes the deserted hole of an Aard Verk 

 would be taken possession of, and in these holes 

 we have secured a dozen and more Cane Rats at a 

 time. As a general rule, however, this animal does 

 not burrow, but contents itself with the cover 

 afforded by the tangled masses of scrub, vast beds of 

 reeds, long matted grass, etc. In these lairs it has 

 regular beaten tracks running in all directions. The 



